1 in 3 Moviegoers Would Buy A Movie Ticket After Watching An Online Trailer Or Ad, Says New Study

New White Paper Shows How Disney Dominates Movies Sector Online With 26.1% Share Of Digital Buzz; Gives Key Insights on How Studios Can Use Video to Drive ROI

October 16, 2014 – A third of moviegoers claim they would buy a movie ticket after watching a trailer or ad online. That’s according to new research by marketing technology company Unruly, which also found that 28% of 1,050 web viewers surveyed said they would rent the film.

Consumers who share movie-related content are almost 6 times more likely to purchase a ticket than those who don’t. However, the new report – called ‘The Science of Sharing: Movies’ – found the majority of online movie marketing campaigns are not being optimized for sharing across the social web.

Box office revenue in the US alone has slumped 8.8%, with a loss of over $1 billion over the past 24 months, putting increasing pressure on movie makers’ bottom line. The research, which analyzed the most shared movie promos from September 2013 to September 2014, provides actionable insights for studios looking to generate more ROI from their online marketing.

The key findings include:

Video content drives ROI: Almost a third (31%) of moviegoers who watched a movie promo said they would purchase a ticket to watch the film, while 12% claimed they would buy a home entertainment copy and 28% said they would rent the film;

Content is launched too early to generate opening weekend buzz: Trailers display the highest viral velocity of any branded video content online, attracting almost half (42%) of their shares within the first 24 hours. It takes music videos and ads 3 days to hit this milestone, yet movie promos are released months prior to a release date;

Social video success correlates with box office success: Disney has attracted the most online video shares (26%) out of the Big Six Studios over the past 12 months. It also had 23% market share of box office revenue in the US during the same period. Warner Bros, which attracted the second biggest share of box office revenue (21%), also attracted the second most online shares (22%);

The most shared movie content isn’t trailers: Instead, it’s different types of content. The top 5 most shared movie promos from the last 12 months are not trailers. Instead, they’re prankverts, stand-alone micro-movies or music videos. Films that go beyond the trailer are generating cut-through and social buzz in a competitive, trailer-heavy media landscape;

It’s emotional: The two main reasons why viewers share a video are the strength of the emotional response it elicits and the reasons it gives viewers to share it. The most common emotions elicited by movie trailers are happiness, amazement and exhilaration. The most common social motivations are shared passion, zeitgeist and opinion seeking.

“With movie studios under increasing pressure at the box office, it’s more important than ever that they optimize their online marketing strategies to deliver ROI,” says Richard Kosinski, President, US, Unruly. “Done well, every movie premiere has the chance to be a Super Bowl moment, where pre-release buzz can be used to drive earned media and advocacy, which influence sales at the box office.”

“Consumers are also experiencing ‘content shock’. The smart advertisers are creating memorable content by generating intense emotional responses in viewers and breaking away from traditional trailers. The top 3 most shared videos of the past 12 months are prankverts or, in the case of Frozen, a trackvert.”

To help advertisers, Unruly ShareRank™, an algorithm which helps marketers predict the ‘shareability’ of their video content, has been trained specifically for the movie industry.

“When considering your distribution strategy, use the best content to create a viral peak in the week leading up to a movie’s release. Unruly ShareRank for Movies tests videos to identify the content that most resonates with your audience in terms of likelihood both to watch the actual movie in the theater, driving ticket sales, and to share the video, building buzz,” says Cat Jones, Product Director at Unruly.

Unruly ShareRank for Movies™ can also use facial coding technology to determine precisely which moments in a movie promo provoked the strongest viewer response.

UNRULY, UNRULY SHARERANK, UNRULY SHARERANK FOR MOVIES, UNRULY ANALYTICS, UNRULY VIRAL VIDEO CHART and associated logos, designs and other marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Unruly Group Limited in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

About Unruly

Marketing technology company Unruly is the leading global platform for social video advertising. With 3 out of every 4 video views now taking place outside of YouTube, 83% of Ad Age 100 brands use Unruly’s proprietary technology to reach and engage super-sharers across the Open Web. We’ve delivered 4.69 billion views across 9,200+ campaigns to a global audience of 1.27 billion monthly unique users. Our super power is predicting viral success. Our secret weapon is passionate people on a mission to #DeliverWow.

Founded in 2006, Unruly employs 160 people across 13 offices in 10 countries, with regional HQs in London, New York and Singapore. As well as numerous accolades recognizing our technical innovation and product excellence (Digiday, Sunday Times, Braves), the company has won ‘Best Companies to Work For’ (Sunday Times), ‘Best Digital Ad Ops Team’ (AOP) and has been named as the UK’s #2 Fastest Growing Tech Company (Deloitte).